Interview: “Setup Squad”’s Jonathan D. Lovitz Wants to Help People (but Must Obey the Prime Directive!)

Here’s what I already knew about Jonathan D. Lovitz, the only male “wingman” who works at Wings, Inc., the dating counseling service profiled in Setup Squad, the new reality show on Logo (which owns AfterElton.com):

• He’s gay and in a relationship of almost three years.
• In addition to his work on the show, he’s an actor/model/musician, with most of his major credits so far involving stage work.
• A month before Setup Squad debuted, he was called for jury duty, but claimed he was unable to be impartial, because he is a second-class citizen in New York state as a result of being a gay man; he was subsequently dismissed from duty, and he became a brief viral sensation. 
• He incredibly toned body is freakin’ unreal.

Here’s what I learned about Jonathan from my recent phone interview with him:

• He’s a total geek – and I mean that in the best possible sense.
• He absolutely refuses to take sides in the Helen/Lauretta dispute, despite my determined attempts to get him to do so.
• He’s just as sweet in person (on the phone at least) as he seems on TV. 

But don’t take my word for it – read for yourself!

AfterElton: So what makes you a good wingman?
Jonathan D. Lovitz: Because I have been in the thick of the trenches in New York. I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of the New York dating universe, and if I could find a boyfriend with my life and my crazy schedule, I can help just about anybody.

AE: Do you friends come to for dating advice?
JL: Half of my friends are together because of me! I’m still waiting for some return from the wedding registries.

Jonathan, Helen, Renee, Meredith, and Queen Drama Lauretta

AE: Does Wings, Inc. actually exist apart from the show? I’m dying to know this.
JL: Yes, we do! Renee started the company, and it was originally a one-woman operation. Then she realized it was time for her dream to come to true, to create a legion of love. We are the dream team she always wanted.

[Editor's Note: the channel provided a website address for the agency, but to our mind, it doesn't really answer the question of whether or not the agency exists apart from the show.]

AE: So you have clients that aren’t shown, who don’t want to be on TV?
JL: Oh, yes. Both clients through Wings, Inc., and people I meet, when I get stopped in the gym [or whatever].

AE: How many people do you help a week?
JL: We all work with at least one client a week. Sometimes there seem to be more people in need of our services – Valentine’s Day [for example].

And we swoop in to help each other every once in a while. You’ll see that a lot. Even if we don’t have a client of our own that week, we’ll be there to help each other.

AE: The show is making a big deal about the feud between Lauretta and Helen. It doesn’t seem like a “feud” to me – it seems like one person acted completely inappropriately and the other person reacted completely understandably, like anyone of us would. So I don’t understand Renee’s “mistakes were made on both sides, solve this yourselves” approach. But I’m curious: how real is this?
JL: It’s real. I wish I was sitting with you, and I could show you 4 AM texts from both Lauretta and Helen saying, “What the hell is going on?” and venting to me, because I am always the boy in the middle when things are going down at Wings, Inc. I can assure you that the press-on nails came off, and someone was holding someone’s leash, because these fights were real.

Next Page! Who's right: Helen or Lauretta?